Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-11-19
policemen and proprietors came off victori-

policemen and proprietors came off victori
Gus, and the intruders were elected.
Speaking o: policemen, they have to |
work very hard in Mexico, and their pay |
is seldom more than six dollars per month. |
In most Mexican cities the street lamps :
are suspended over the center of the !
streets on wire strung across from build !
ing TO building. Among MS numerous
other duties the policeman must carry |
long ladder and clean, ILL, light and after
wards extinguish all the lamps on his
beat
From this balcony of mine, one may see
the grGnde dunes and dons Of Yautepec out
on dress parade-thc former mostly in
their carriages and the latter OF horseback.
The well-to-do citizen is seldom seen on
foot, and among the upper classes in Mex
leo walking has become almost lost art.
1t is positive fact that because these peo-
pie stand so little their feet have become
dwaried and shrunken to incredible small
ness. Fancy New Yorker or Chica-
goan in ladies' shoes number four or five,
with toes tapering to an infinitesimal
point, ard enormously high French heels
set exactly under the instep What can
you expect, in the way of great deeds and
worthy achievements from race of men
whose feet are shod like that? Wonder
goes
THE DUDE OF YAUTEPEC,
A wealthy young sugar-planter, whose an
cestral acres stretch away beyond the
limits of vision. He bestrides a prancing
steed, whose pace is here known as 'single
step" and the gorgeous saddle and trap
pings that cover the animal almost out of
sight, must have cost Il moderate fortune
Observe how gingerly he holds his gold
headed whip and how the big diamond
sparkles in the end of it. See his pearl
inlaid reyolyers protruding from the sash
Of crimson silk which his short, black
jacket imperfectly conceals. His panta-
looms, tight as two candle-molds, are decor
ated with double rows of genuine half
dollars up the outside seams set on so
closely as to overlap and braided together
with gold cord. The pointed toes of his
tiny shoes are thrust into silver stirrups of
enormous size, and from his heels dangle
silver spurs that, ten to one, outweigh his
| feet. His great sombrero of white felt has
gold cable, large as your thumb, wound
around and around it, and its broad, thick
brim bears also heavy arabesque of gold.
His horse is so perfectly trained that the
AihNi hSNNl hSNs TIC Islll. Dul BtUuS
| slightly to the right or left to indicate his
wish.
The mozo, or groom, who rides behind at
respectful distance, forms an admirable
foil to the gorgeousness of his master.
whom he constantly eyes with an air of
excessive pride and dignity, rs one who
says, "There he goe5-.just look at him.
ISN'T HE A DAISY
His hacienda covers thousand gquare
miles, and that white sombrero cost a hun
dred dollars if it cost cent"
The mozo is a good deal more soberlv
dressed than the dude he follows, though
his sombrero is equally broad and the
| coins on his breeches are madeos (six-cent
pieces instead Of half-dollars. Besides
the dagger and brace of pistols which he
| sports in his cotton sash, broad, savage
looking sword, called 4 mediate, is stuck in
the saddle sheath. This warlike rig,
though scarcely needed now, is a survival
of the time when personal defense was a
matter of daily necessity.
The elaborate dressing of the upper
classes makes the simple undressing of the
lower strata of society more apparent by
contrast. The street below our balcony is
full Of poems, who are as ignorant, squalid
| and superstltious as they are guileless and
warm-hearted. Most of them wear a
shawl of some sort-the masculine shawl
being called zorape, and the feminine a
rcboso. Many of the women have a piece
of black paper pasted ON either temple,
which looks like the label of spool of
cotton. Should you ask one of them what
it is for, she would reply, " For the head
ache, senior; were ii not for that prevent
i've l should perish of dollar dc cdbcsa."
Speaking of dress reminds me that the
Legislature of Jalisco-one of the largest
Mexican States, with IN area of more than
hundred thousand square kilometers-
has solemnly passed law, which went into
effect on the LIST day of last October, COM
polling all the Indians above certain age
to put on regular breeches. Hereafter
every male biped in that State who may
be captured without those useful append
ages, or clad only in the old-time tunic
drawers and blanket, will be arrested and
fined forthwith and, as it is safe to con-
clude that this class Of citizens have no
money, he will be set to work on public
improvements" under guard, until the fine
is paid and enough pesos earned to purchase
the garments prescribed by law
FANNIE B. WARD.